A collaboration between the Virtual Literature Festival, Babel and DA2 Digital Arts Development
Agency brings a storming evening of 'real' and 'virtual' poetry slamming -
the fast-developing artform of live performance poetry. The slam in Bath is
partnered by an online poetry jam taking place in Plymouth by STAR (Science
Technology, Arts Research, School of Computing, University of Plymouth).
The live 'slammers' in Bath will have their words scratched, scrambled and
re-mixed by jammers at STAR through special text editing programmes. These
new digital texts will then be presented back to the audience in Bath
during chill-out periods between rounds of the slam.

The Online Jam is organised in collaboration with DA2 Digital Arts
Development Agency and supported by STAR at the University of Plymouth and
the European Social Fund. Digital Jam is presented as part of the DA2
programme of digital arts.

The Bath Literature Festival is one of the leading UK events and revels in
the word in all its many forms - in print and in performance. This year the
Festival also introduces the first Bath Virtual Literature Festival which
takes place on the Internet via the Festival's worldwide website. The
physical and the virtual will reflect, inform and inspire each other.

The Virtual Festival celebrates the huge impact of the Internet on writing
around the world. It features online debate, digital art, an online
collaborative writing project, online critical commentary, a virtual
writer-in-residence, games and a children's chatroom. Getting involved is
easy whether you're an old surfer or a first-time user. The festival has
also organised a range of public access points at which you can try the
Internet for free, with even a special training course for those who
haven't yet ventured into cyberspace!